


It All Started By the Turtleduck Pond

by Moonwater_Sunfire_Yinyang_Fanfic



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: A little bit of Taang, A lot of Zutara, F/M, Kidnapped Katara, Panic Attacks, Slow Burn, There are some trigger moments, Three Years Later, kind of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-20 09:08:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30002577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonwater_Sunfire_Yinyang_Fanfic/pseuds/Moonwater_Sunfire_Yinyang_Fanfic
Summary: 3 years after the war has ended something happens to a Water Tribe Ambassador that starts an internal war for her thoughts and feelings as well as a hunt for who did this to her and why.
Relationships: Aang/Toph Beifong, Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Kudos: 23





	1. Prologue

It all started by the turtleduck pond.

The nineteen-year-old Firelord was sitting in his study, at his desk, and finishing paperwork for the night (and if he was honest, daydreaming) when it happened. He was reminiscing about the visit that his friends had surprised him with two weeks ago. Aang was now 15, as was Toph. Sokka was 18 and Katara was turning 17 in about a month.

 _They were all getting so tall_. He thought, reminiscing.

Aang was traveling the world and was visiting tiny area to check in on them. Sokka was now one of the best swordsmen in the South Pole and was the Water Tribe Ambassador to the Earth Kingdom. He mostly stayed on Kyoshi Island with Suki who had decided to leave Zuko’s personal guard to Toph because she was the lead warrior and needed to train new recruits although Ty Lee and some other warriors stayed behind. Katara took the job of Water Tribe Ambassador in the Fire Nation about a year ago because she and her father decided that she was the best equipped to deal with that. He wasn’t actually sure what happened with her and Aang. The Water Tribe siblings would make a trip back to the Southern Water tribe every other month so they could report back and see their father and grandparents. Toph was his bodyguard, lie detector, and Earth Kingdom Ambassador to the Fire Nation all rolled into one sass-filled 15-year-old girl. She stayed with Katara who lived in her own house just outside the palace walls. Toph visited the palace every day except for the weeks that she and Katara would report back to their respective nations and to visit their families. Katara and Toph had just left by ship for one of these trips a couple days ago. Toph mostly stayed with Uncle Iroh in Ba Sing Se because her parents were still to overbearing although she still visited from time to time and they had gotten marginally better (since the Firelord himself appointed Toph they couldn’t really argue.)

His thoughts then shifted to his legitimate sister, Azula. She was benefitting from a psychiatrist and close to daily healing sessions with Katara (who was always armed with water and extra guards) and taking a certain herbal medication that made her more lucid. She still had bad days, and, on those days, she would begin to speak nonsense and harm herself. One year ago, she had moved into a house that was heavily guarded, but she was allowed to move around and go outside freely. He knew this was dangerous, but she was still his little sister, who- at against most people’s advice- still loved. His thoughts then floated to his beloved uncle who had reopened the Jasmine Dragon and was enjoying life. Ex-Firelord Ozai still was in the dungeons serving out his life-long sentence.

One of the palace servants-he thought her name was Sakura? - interrupted his thoughts and came in with a letter.

‘’It’s from Sir Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, Firelord Zuko.’’ She said, slightly nervously.He guessed it was her first time meeting him (she was having a hard time not staring at his scar.

‘’Thank you. Have a good night, you are dismissed.’’ She had bustled out of the room quickly.

He slit the seal with the letter opener by his desk and began reading.

_Dear Zuko,_

_I am writing with bad news. Katara has gone missing. The ship landed but she wasn’t on it. The crewmen thought that she had decided to stay with Toph but Toph said that she isn’t in Ba Sing Se with her either and they were supposed to go on with the trade materials. Dad and I are worried that she may have been Katara-napped and we were wondering if you had any idea who may have done this and if you could do something Firelord-y to find her._

_Thanks, Sokka_

Oh, this was bad. This was really bad. The ship they were on only stopped in an Earth Kingdom Harbor to gather supplies and drop Toph off. While she was gone his regular guard would have to do and the meetings were postponed for only a week. He buried his head in his hands and ran his hands through his hair. He had kept it short like how it was on his travels because he didn’t want to look like his predecessor. He abruptly stood up and left a note on his desk if anyone came looking for him.

_Stopping by my room to change then going out to the turtleduck pond._

_Zuko_

He set it down and headed toward the door. He stepped out into the hallway and waved to his guards.

‘’I need to be alone for a while, do not follow me. Go back to your families and have a nice night.’’

They nodded and turned to go to the guard room.

Zuko walked down the hall to his room and pushed open the heavy door and walked to his closet. He took off the heavy robes of the Firelord and put on old robes that he used to travel in with his friends. When he emerged to walk to the pond, he had taken his hair piece out and had wrapped a plain black cloak with a hood around his shoulders. It was and oddly chilly night for the Fire Nations even though it was beginning to turn to winter. Since it was getting dark out he knew that the turtleducks will be sleeping but he still liked to watch the very last spots of sun fade from the sky. While he was thinking about more reasons why he enjoyed the turtleduck pond he didn’t notice that he was already arriving in the clearing. When he lifted his eyes up from the ground and from his thoughts, he saw something that made him stop in his tracks and made his stomach drop to his feet like Toph had made him eat a boulder.

There, by the pond, dripping wet, bloody, broken, and unconscious, with traveling clothes in tatters, was Katara.


	2. Chapter 1: Injuries and Inquiries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara’s more hurt than she looks and has a near death experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has some injuries that will be explained more in-depth in later chapters. There is implied attempted rape in some later chapters but nothing incredibly graphic in the entirety of the story so if that makes you uncomfortable please know your own limits and read with discretion.

When Zuko finally came to his senses and took in the scene in front of him. He rushed to her side, kneeled beside her, and noticed a few more things about her condition. It looked like her clothes had been only draped on and were torn the entire way up the side. Her pants were missing but he didn’t care much about this given the situation. Her waterskin was missing as well. He quickly tried to assess his options. He could take off the remnants of the dress so he could see the full extent of her injuries or he could leave them on to preserve her modest but potentially endanger her life if there were other wounds.

He decided the first option and pulled the fabric away. He noticed in the back of his mind that she had changed her wrappings to a slightly more revealing design which caused him to blush but that quickly went away after he reminded himself of the severity of the situation and continued to look for wounds. He was no healer but judging by the bruises across her stomach, chest, and hips it seemed like she had several broken bones. It seemed like a rib was broken but he could her chest rising and falling so maybe it hadn’t punctured a lung which was good. There were bruises blooming on her hips and thighs as well coming out of her upper wrappings slightly. Her left wrist was sprained and both wrists had rope burns and actual burns. There was a rather large cut above her left eye that was bleeding profusely. She seemed to have been punched in the stomach and maybe have internal bleeding judging by the bruises and the dried blood near her mouth.

 _So, whoever kidnapped her and tortured her must have been a fire bender or affiliated with one,_ he thought grimly.

There were more burns on her shoulder and upper thigh that looks like she may have tried to heal them but couldn’t finish.

_Oh Katara, what did they do to you?_

He ripped a strip of fabric from her robe and tied it around the cut on her forehead to hold the bleeding and took off his cloak, shivering slightly as the cool air hit his skin but immediately warming himself with his bending. He laid his cloak out next to her and carefully moved her on top of it. He wrapped her tightly in the cloak and slid her into his arms. As soon as she was secure her rushed back inside the palace. He decided to head to the spas so he could keeper in water in hopes that it may at least calm her and call a healer from there. He reached the spa, took off the cloak and slid her into a shallow spring. He ran out of the room and shouted for a guard. One came running toward him and stopped when he saw him standing there perfectly fine. A confused look passed over the guard’s face.

“I am okay but the Southern Water Tribe ambassador, Lady Katara is injured. I need you to get a female doctor and tell her to come immediately. You are dismissed.”

The guard took off running down the hall and Zuko called after him.

“ _Hurry!_ ”

He headed back in the spa and watched Katara to make sure her breathing and heartbeat never wavered.

0o0o0o0

Katara couldn’t remember anything about how she got here. It was dark and she couldn’t see a thing.

“Hello?” She called out.

“Is anyone there?’’

She spotted two figures coming toward her. One looked like a woman and the other a man. The two people were now slightly more recognizable, but she still couldn’t see them all the way. When they were about 20 feet away from her, she could make out some distinctive features on each of them. Her heart almost stopped when she recognized the woman.

“M-Mom? Is that you?”

She began to run towards them a as high a speed as she could go with her arms outstretched. She reached the two figures and launched herself at her mother who stumbled backward while the man chuckled lightly.

When she released her mom, she had tears streaming down her face and her mother’s face mirrored her.

Her mother looked down and wiped the tears from her daughter’s face.

“Oh, Katara you’ve grown so much. I’m so sorry for leaving you so early.”

“It’s okay, you were just protecting us. I missed you so, so, much.”

“While this has been a happy reunion, I’m sure you have some questions, am I right?” Said the man.

“Yes, I do, actually.” She said, wiping her eyes. "Number one: Am I” She took a hard swallow here. "dead?” She whispered.

“No sweetie, you are in between life and death. In the real world you are still alive, but your consciousness is starting to pull away from your body which means you can go back to your body if you decide to. What’s your second question?”

“Oh, okay good I was worried for a moment. I mean I still am but slightly less now. I have another question for you. Who are you and why do you sound a little and look a little like Uncle Iroh and Zuko?”

He chuckled a bit began to answer.

“I’m Lu Ten. I’m Iroh’s son and Zuko’s cousin. I died in the battle of Ba Sing Se.”

“My third and fourth questions are why are you here and can you see us from the afterlife?’’

Lu Ten said “I am here because your life is intertwined with Zuko’s, just like it is with Sokka’s, Aang’s, Toph’s, and Suki’s. I only know their names from other spirits. However, their past relatives don’t appear here because the spirits decided to send us for a reason I don’t know.”

Her mother decided to address her fourth question.

“No, we can’t unless its on certain days or if you do certain ceremonies.”

“Does that mean that you don’t know what your families look like?”

“Sadly, yes.” Lu Ten answered.

“Is there a way I can show you? Maybe if I think about them a lot, I can project them somehow.”

Katara cleared all other thoughts from her mind and thought only of her friends and family. First, she thought of Sokka, dad, and Gran Gran. She opened her eyes and looked up to find them all standing near her like they would do in real life. Her mother looked in awe and tears made her way down her cheeks once more.

“Oh, I’ve missed them so much. Thank you, Kat”

She nodded and smiled at her mother’s grinning face. She then shut her eyes and pictured Zuko, Iroh, Azula, and annoyingly, Ozai. She opened her eyes to find them in the same place as where her family had been. Lu Ten looked confused at Zuko’s scar.

“How did he get that?”

“He hasn’t told us yet, but we think that maybe Ozai did it at some point. All we know is that he was banished for 3 years since he was 13 and your dad went with him. Ozai was taken off the throne for war crimes and put in jail and Zuko is the Firelord now. Azula kind of went insane but she’s doing better now that she’s away from her father.”

Lu Ten looked like he wanted to break every bone in Ozai’s body, heal him, then do it again.

“On the bright side your dad owns a tea shop called the Jasmine Dragon in Ba Sing Se and is the Grand Lotus.”

Lu Ten seemed to brighten at this news.

She focused on all her friends and they all popped up.

Her mother spoke again. “Katara it’s time for you to make a decision about if you want to go back to the real world or stay with us.”

Bits and pieces of memory from her ordeal of the past few days came back to her. She remembered the pains and hardships of life and the easy blackness of death and her mom.Then she thought of her family and friends and what they would do without her. She couldn’t leave them alone like that, she just couldn’t.

'“I’m going back to the real world. I can’t leave Sokka and Dad and Gran Gran and my friends. At least not yet anyway. I’ll do the ceremonies every year though so you can see us, okay? I love you mom and it was nice to meet you Lu Ten, I’ll tell your family all about you, I promise.”

She felt a pull of her conscious and waved goodbye to her mother and Lu Ten who were also yelling their goodbyes and thank yous and from her mom I love yous.


End file.
